Last week we observed that the “great wealth” with which the Jews left Egypt ultimately led to the catastrophe of the Golden Calf. According to the Talmud (Berachos 32a), Moshe defended the Jews by making the case that Hashem was to blame for granting them the abundance of gold from which the calf was fashioned, and Hashem accepted this argument.
The unanswered question is: Why did Hashem promise and grant this wealth knowing that the consequences of the gift would be so terrible?
Actually, this question may be related to the mystery of another perplexing Talmudic statement (Berachos 9a):
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: I beg you, go and tell Israel, “I beg you to borrow from the Egyptians vessels of silver and vessels of gold,” so that this righteous man [Abraham] may not say: “And they shall serve them, and they shall afflict them” He did fulfill for them, but “And afterward shall they come out with great wealth” He did not fulfill for them.
It appears that Hashem took the position that his initial promise was not binding; he would only fulfill it to avoid Avraham’s protest. Why would this be? The Vilna Gaon, along with other commentators, answers that the promise made to Avraham was conditional upon the Jews completing the full term of four hundred years of bondage.
According to Rabbinic tradition, the Jews were released prematurely and there is a range of opinions as to why this was. Among the possibilities: the four hundred years are to be counted from the birth of Yitzchok; the harshness of the enslavement compressed four hundred years of torture into a shorter period; or, the supernaturally abundant population performed the equivalent of four hundred years of labor in less time. Any of these explanations would allow for the argument that the condition for receiving the wealth was in fact met.
However, there is another opinion (Midrash Shir Hashirim Rabbah, Chapter 2) that the premature exodus was an act of Divine mercy; according to this opinion the condition for receiving the wealth was not met.
In the above Talmudic citation, explains the Vilna Gaon, Hashem takes the position that the Jews did not fulfill the necessary condition for receiving the wealth, but, as Avraham would undoubtedly take the alternative position, He allowed the Jews to receive the money anyway.
This requires some explanation. Why was the “great wealth” conditional on completing the entire term of four hundred years? One could argue that, for completing half the term, the Jews should have been entitled to half the wealth!
Perhaps the key to solving all our difficulties is a proper understanding of the purpose of our experience in Egypt. In the mystical tradition, the Galus Mitzrayim was a process of purification; we would attain lofty levels of spiritual perfection and thus be fit to perform our mission as Hashem’s people. While we are not mystics and have little access to esoteric wisdom, we can nevertheless understand this on a rational level. Maharal (Gevuros Hashem, Chapter 4) writes that when two diametrically opposed peoples are brought together often the consequence is a polarization through which each becomes more extreme in its views and position. (Unfortunately, sometimes the opposite takes place and there is a blending or synthesis. See ahead.) The holiness of Yisrael would have been raised to higher heights by the forced proximity to the depravity of Mitzrayim. Over four hundred years this would have raised our people to unimaginable heights.
But was this ideal ever achieved? Yes and no. In the area of sexual purity, Chazal (Yoma 75a, Midrash Vayikra Rabba 32:5) teach that the Jews in Egypt attained worthy levels. They were a “locked garden” and a “sealed spring” building protective fences of separation between themselves and the Egyptians who, as is well known, were most depraved in this area of life. Yet, on the other hand, in the realm of theological purity the Jews succumbed to temptation. The Jews began to worship Egyptian deities (Yechezkel, Chapter 20) and accordingly the Satan argued at the Red Sea that they were not deserving of salvation (Midrash Shemos Rabbah 21:7). Undoubtedly this is the basis of the well known mystical teaching that the Jews had descended to the forty-ninth level of impurity; if they would not have been redeemed when they were, they would have been lost forever.
Thus, in the area of religious worship, things did not work out as they should. Instead of a four hundred year term of spiritual ascent there was a two hundred-ten year term of spiritual degeneration from which the Jews were saved in the nick of time. Perhaps this is why the gift of “great wealth” was conditional on the completion of the four hundred years. On the level of spiritual perfection they would have attained there would have been no danger that the gold would have been misused and fashioned into a calf for worship. But because the opposite was the case, the Jews should not have been given the gold. Only to prevent Avraham’s potential grievance did Hashem take the chance.
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